The presidential candidates remaining as of Super Tuesday 2016

by byte clay

Here is an update on where we are with the presidential candidates just before Super Tuesday occurs on March 1, 2016, on the political calendar. Quinnipiac indicated on Thursday that the race is still up for grabs, in spite of recent wins by Donald Trump on the Republican side and by Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. At this point, there are still five major candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president and two attempting to get the Democratic nomination. While some candidates are still polling extremely low and refusing to suspend their candidacy, there are others who have recently quit the race.

There are now seven presidential candidates in the 2016 race for president. Of those seven candidates, give are Republicans and two are Democrats.

The remaining Republican candidates are Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump. The remaining Democratic candidates are Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The Washington Examiner lists a great deal of information about each candidate including a brief history of each person, his or her major policy positions, age, family information, education, birthplace, current residence, and religion.

Of the persons who were candidates or were strongly considered candidates and ultimately are no longer contenders are Vice President Joe Biden who ended strong speculation last fall that he would run as a Democrat by formally announcing that he will not enter the race. Other Democrats who will not be running but were candidates or strongly considered to be candidates are Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, Lawrence Lessig, Elizabeth Warren, and Jim Webb. O’Malley held on through the January 2016 debates and through the Iowa Caucus. However, the day after receiving less than 1 percent of the support among Iowans on Feb. 1, he ended his run for president.

The Republicans who will not be running but were candidates or strongly considered to be candidates are Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Scott Walker. Huckabee ended his campaign on Feb. 2, the day after the Iowa Caucus, and Paul ended his campaign the day after Huckabee withdrew his candidacy. Shortly thereafter, Rick Santorum ended his latest run for president and endorsed Marco Rubio as he made his exit. Throughout the remainder of February, prior to the March 1 Super Tuesday election, the following previous hopefuls have dropped out of the race as well: Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Jim Gilmore. While most exiting candidates refused to endorse another candidate, Chris Christie endorsed Donald Trump shortly after ending his candidacy.

As of late February 2016, in general, Hillary Clinton has lost her strong lead over Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side as Sanders and Clinton nearly tied in the Iowa Caucus by both having over 49 percent of the Iowans’ support, says CNBC. Ultimately, Clinton won by a sliver. By the end of February, Clinton gained slightly after votes were cast elsewhere, but the race is still considered to be much closer than it was polled to have been previously – in favor of Clinton. On the Republican side, late February 2016 turned the spotlight on Sen. Ted Cruz as he defeated Donald Trump and the other GOP hopefuls in the Iowa Caucus by a decent margin. Trump came in second with Sen. Marc Rubio coming in a very close third place. Rubio gained momentum throughout the month as Super Tuesday approaches. All other candidates failed to garner double-digit support in the Iowa Caucus and beyond. Later in the month, Trump won three contests – in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada – and pulled ahead in the race by a significant margin. Going into Super Tuesday, Trump is definitely the winning candidate thus far. If he defeats Cruz and Rubio in their home states, pundits say it’s clear that Trump will win the nomination.

The important events following the Iowa Caucus and other February 2016 events include Super Tuesday on March 1 with primary elections in six southern states as well as Massachusetts and Minnesota. On March 15, various elections are held including the Florida and Ohio events. On June 7, the last primaries will be held in five states.

The Republican convention begins in Cleveland on July 18. The Democratic convention in Philadelphia will begin on July 25. After the two major parties decide on their nominees, the first presidential debate will take place at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio on Sept. 26. Election Day will be on Nov. 8.